Is Taberah and Kibroth Hattaavah the same place in Numbers 11:3 & 34?

Question

Numbers 11:3 After that, the area was known as Taberah (which means “the place of burning”), because fire from the Lord had burned among them there. (New Living Translation)

Numbers 11:34 So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the Israelites traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed for some time. (New Living Translation)

The above texts do not indicate any movement on the part of the Israelites but two places are mentioned when the Israelites complain and are slayed.

In the first incident it is said the people complained about hardships and they were destroyed by the fire; the place was called Taberah, where Moses enlisted the help of the Lord to carry the burden. (seventy elders)

In the second incident it is said the people complained about meat the place was called Kibroth Hattaavah and the Lord's anger blazed and they were destroyed by a severe plague.

This seems to be one continuous narrative where there is no movement on the part of the Israelites

Are these one and the same place?

Answer 1

I agree with Ellicott, they are both the same place and thus two names for the same location.

WHY?

I understand that Kibroth-Hattaavah was correctly identified back in 1869 by the English explorer E.H. Palmer, who investigated in person the artifacts he found at a site called Erweis el Eberig, on the main camel track going north from Gebel Musa to Ain Huderah, which he identified as biblical Hazeroth, which follows Kibroth-Hattaavah.

While Palmer identified Erweis el Eberig with Kibroth-Hattavah, he DID NOT venture a guess on the location of Taberah. That is a surprise for me!

So where is Taberah for me?

Its Erweis el Eberig.

How so?

Palmer noted that the site was an unusally large encampment, everywhere were seen the remains of campfires or stone hearths, blackened with soot from campfires. Upon digging under the hearths he found large quantities of ash and charcoal. Fore me, this was Taberah "the place of burning."

On the perimeter of the encampment were found large stone heaps over graves apparently. Hence the graves of the lusting!

Archaeologists have excavated at the site and report it dates from the Early Bronze Age II period (ca. 2900-2600 BC) based on the pottery debris found in association with the camp fires.

Apparently whoever wrote the bible's Exodus account, had misdated the site as 1446-1406 BC and the Exodus (based on 1 KIngs 6:1).

Because the site did NOT date to 1446-1406 BC (1 KIngs 6:1) it has been rejected as being Taberah and Kibroth-Hattavah, by many scholars.

Myself?

I understand that no one in antiquity knew the age of any site in the Sinai and Negeb. So ALL the sites were misidentified as being 1446-1406 BC!

It was not until Sir Flinders Petrie at the end of the 19th century AD developed Pottery Typologies would anyone know the real age of the ancient sites in the Sinai and Negeb.

So, for me, Taberah and Kibroth-Hattavah are the same site,Erweis El Eberig, they possess evidence of a burning from ash and charcoal, and heaps of stones as tombs.

I understand the Exodus account was penned in the Babylonian Exile, circa 562 BC based on 2 Kings 25:27.

Regards, Walter R. Mattfeld (15 Dec. 2022)